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In Reply to: RE: Good Question posted by Jack G on February 13, 2016 at 08:18:17
The iso block cork and rubber pads do work well.
I have some of the cork and rubber anti vibration pads that I paid .29 cents a piece for, and I also have the iso blocks I purchased from Mapleshade years ago. To my eyes they are virtually identical.
I like to use them under cd player/transports, tuners, DAC etc....For amps, preamps, and speakers I like the brass footers on maple (or other hardwood).
I wasn't dismissing what Pierre (proprietor of Mapleshade) had to say entirely about iso blocks. I was pointing out (here and in the general asylum) that some of his claims were over the top and hyperbole laden. I also pointed out that cork and rubber vibration pads were available for .29 versus $6 a copy.
I have included the Mapleshade link. Read the second paragraph and you will see where it starts getting deep.
Example: Putting power strip on 4" maple platforms - C'mon man.......
At .29 cents a piece; What do you have to lose?
Meat; It's the right thing to do. Romans 14:2
Follow Ups:
I am put off by the remarks about Pierre. The tone seems that since something he sells can be found cheaper, he's a crook. I think people should focus on the sound improvements made by his products-and the listening that went into developing his isolation system. The remark about putting a power strip on maple is also a conjecture. Have you tried it? Its easy to try with a thick cutting board. We should be thanking Pierre for his research rather than scorning him. Just my opinion.
I'm not calling Pierre a crook. I believe the ad copy he writes for some of the products he sells is way over the top - as in I had better pull my pants up and wear rubber boots because the shits' getting pretty deep.
What I, and others here are saying is that the level of hyperbole Mapleshade uses in describing the physical properties of a product are at times laughable.
Look; in my experience rubber and cork works. I have used it for many years with great results. To believe that Mapleshade makes a special rubber and cork product that is superior to all other rubber and cork in the known world is preposterous.
The following is from a Maeshade ad copy describing Iso Blocks.
"Iso Blocks are a six layer rubber/cork laminate whose footprint and number of lamination has been tuned by ear to exactly those vertical, horizontal, and torsional resonant frequencies that provide the best sonic isolation for our air dried maple platforms"............and so on...........Well, I guess they would be six layers because when you glue a three layer block to another three layer block it does in fact add up to six layers.
Do you see where that comes off as a little disingenuous when describing a common HVAC accessory that has been around for decades?
Another example; If you took all the products that Mapleshade said would give another half to full octave of bass and added them all up you would have a system capable of -50 hertz frequency response! I mean, for the love of all things holy; How many octaves are there? That was a joke, as I am aware there is no such thing as -50 hertz.
I will give Mapleshade credit for making this tweak widely known - props to them. I will however, not be taken in by the techno blather tuned by ear crap though, especially the ears of a 79 year old man. If you believe all of the ad copy about "turn signal fluid" , that's on you.
To reiterate; I believe that many of Mapleshade's products are very good. I own many Mapleshade CD's and audio products. I have used, and will continue to use Maplshade Sil-Clear, as I believe it is a wonderful product that gives subtle but noticable results. But..... I also believe that other products are nothing more than ruse to generate more money for Mapleshade. Great - I assume Mapleshade is in business to make money.
All I did was link a supplier that sells a virtually identical product for far far less so that my fellow inmates could save some of their hard earned cash.
Meat; It's the right thing to do. Romans 14:2
I actually emailed Mapleshade and told them there is another company that sells "Isoblocs" for .34 cents their reply was "Anybody who can't tell the difference between their Isoblocs and the ones that Park Supply sells "Isn't too swift". Btw, I own both and they look the same to me.
The "audiophile" unit is in the middle, however it is used & the Park Supply pieces are brand new.
I ordered 50 and putting them under 3 subs tonight at band practice. The subs fit under the stage.
Ah, darn! Here I've already ordered the generic Isoblocks.
I admit I'm none too swift. I run a mile in over 10 minutes.
axolotl
It would be fun to see if Pierre could pick out his iso blocks in a blind listening test.
Meat; It's the right thing to do. Romans 14:2
There is a certain amount of techno babble that accompanies the advertisement for any number of "commercial" products. It seems techno-babble only becomes offensive when you can find an economic alternative.
I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon at Mapleshade with Pierre. Although, a number of the products and techniques are suspect - until - you do an A/B test. Pierre demonstrated a number of things that I would view as tomfoolery, unless I had not heard it for myself. I am not in the tank for Pierre, but I have experienced face-to-face the benefit of some of his theories and tweaks.
All this to say: I am willing to bet that Pierre tried 1, 2, 3, etc. iso blocks before he settled on 3 sounding best. Just based on my experience Pierre probably did "hear" a difference. So tuned by ear is probably just ad copy.
Pierre was a most gracious host for an audiophile that just dropped in unannounced. For an afternoon's time he sold 3 or 4 CDs that day. I have purchased quite a number of Mapleshade CDs, since, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share thoughts with such an inquisitive mind.
I have tried and applied any number of tweaks we spoke of that afternoon, and there were a few I found impracticable, but may, quite possibly, be sound theoretical tweaks in someone else's system.
Mapleshade Studios is a tweaker's laboratory. There are any number of experiments being conducted at any given time. Some of these experiments have migrated into commercial products. Pierre is just getting a return for his thoughts, time, research and advertising.
The same outrage should be shouted when inmates of this website profess that the high cost of any number of products make for better sound. YMMV
DaveT
DaveT;
Good post.
I agree with your line of thought.
Meat; It's the right thing to do. Romans 14:2
All businesses are in "it" for the money.
I was curious. I have more than enough vibration control for my stereo. My experience has been that most vibration control/footers change the sound for the worst, or just different. Few are neutral tonally. That said, I may try these on my video system.
As a side note, my power regenerater responds very well to vibration control. It shouldn't, but it does.
Jack
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